The “blindness” issue is special, however, for the Jews. Paul pointed this out in Rom. 11:25: blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And, of course, he states it in today’s passage as well. I would like to consider this subject as Paul speaks to it here, so that we can properly assess the “blame”, if you will. The subject is important for us because we do know that God is involved in this blindness. Jesus put a veil over the gospel by His use of parables (Mt. 13:10-17). This fulfilled a prophecy (we posted on this previously, most recently Jan. 8, 2020) of Isaiah. At the same time, today’s passage says Satan, the god of this age, has blinded their minds. It sounds like there are plenty to take the blame and that perhaps the people of Israel, and all unbelievers for that matter, are victims of some cosmic tennis match between two heavy hitters. That is not the case. Consider:
·
Definitely, the gospel is veiled
(v3). Those who believe the gospel would
say it makes perfect sense: God is the Creator, His created beings have sinned
against Him, He has taken the punishment Himself in offering us forgiveness
through the sacrifice of His Son. It all
fits together. Yet, those who do not
believe the gospel disagree. There is a
curtain across their minds so that they do not get it.
·
For whom is the gospel veiled? It is veiled to those who are perishing
(v3). All people, from birth, are in a “perishing”
mode. All have sinned. The wages of sin is death. Thus, all are born dead, spiritually. Further, if we ask, “Whose minds has Satan
blinded,” the answer is those who do not believe (v4). If we understand this correctly, the problem
is not the “veiled gospel” nor the “god of this age.” The problem is unbelief, the very sin that
leaves people in their “perishing” mode.
Of course, this is what Jesus said.
He who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18).
I want to interject two quotes from Albert
Barnes on these thoughts.
"There is a
class of men who may be called, even now, the lost. They are lost to
virtue, to piety, to happiness, to hope.
They deserve to perish; and they are hastening to merited ruin. This class in the time of Paul was large; and
it is large now. It is composed of those
to whom the gospel is hidden, or to whom it appears to be veiled, and who see
no beauty in it. It is made up indeed of
all the profane, polluted and vile; but their characteristic feature is, that
the gospel is hidden from them, and they see no beauty and glory in it."
"This purpose
of preventing the light of the gospel shining on men, Satan will endeavor to
accomplish by all the means in his power.
It is his grand object in this world, because it is by the gospel only
that men can be saved."
·
While the gospel is veiled, we also see that the
gospel emits light (v4). Satan blinds
the minds of those who do not believe lest the light of the
gospel should shine on them.
Specifically, because the gospel is about Christ, Who He is and what He
has done, the gospel’s light is bound up in the message that glorifies Christ.
·
The last truth we should see is that it is God
who enables those who believe to see the face of Jesus Christ in the
gospel. When we pull these things
together here is what we see: human beings are lost in sin because of unbelief
in the One God sent to be their Savior; Satan is doing all he can to keep the
light from shining on them; the longer they live in unbelief the more desperate
their situation; the only hope is that God will shine in their hearts that they
might see the face of Jesus Christ.
There are two points of application. If you are a believer in Christ, those around you need to hear a true gospel from you. Do not preach yourself; tell them about Christ (v5). If you are not a believer in Christ, in your unbelief cry out to God and ask Him to turn the light on for you. That is your only hope.
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